[i] LoveLife

He flies.

FINALLY he flies. This is a painting called Kaz. In short form - the story of this painting can be found right here. In long form - this painting was something I did to honour Dan's Grandpa Kaz who had passed away just before Penn was born. It was for my I FOUND WINGS art show - where we had live owls. I couldn't explain it at the time, but I felt like the Great Grey Owl was what I needed to paint. And after the painting was finished (in-progress shots here) - I found out that more than 50 years before, Kaz had rescued a Great Grey Owl on his farm and nursed him to health on this porch. Which only made me love the BOTH the Great Grey + Kaz - so much more. Because it's a soulful bird. And he was a soulful guy.

After the art show - the painting was sold to a buyer from Australia which almost broke my heart because it meant I would never, ever see him again. Turns out - of all the places Grandpa Kaz wanted to visit - Australia was it. Which made my broken heart leap! Shipping an enormous painting around the world turned out to be a bit nightmarish and this large painting got crated and then decided against - where it was stored (still in the crate) in our basement for months and months where it saddened me every time I walked by to do laundry. It truly broke my heart to have to tell Dan's Grandma that Kaz never made it to Australia afterall. So I didn't tell her until a few weeks ago.

But, Grandpa Kaz must have heard that. The very next day the Australian buyer changed her mind and wanted the painting even though the shipping costs were astronimical. He must have been looking out for the best price because (thanks to my friend Heidi) we found a much, much better, although still outrageous, rate.

So off to Australia he goes. Sigh.

Today: I am going to bid this painting adieu by prepping him for his journey. See you again, Grandpa Kaz. I have a whack of mundane tasks and errands to complete. My brain is foggy and I am relying on lists. Poet has been sick and that changes the peacefulness around here to watchfulness. COFFEE. TEA. CHOCOLATE. That's what I'm running on today and the operative word there is RUNNING.

GO!

Just remembered how much I like this painting.

The gallery prints [swoon].

It's not very often that I swoon over my own work. BUT. I picked up a chunk of the gallery prints from the I FOUND WINGS collection - and I nearly started to cry. They are beautiful. Actually, they are beyond beautiful. The prints are technically perfect. That's amazing. Typically - there's always something that I'm not 100% happy about. Paper. Scans. Shots. Colours. Some. Thing. But, not these. I photographed the paintings myself on a splendidly snowy afternoon where the light was PERFECT. It could not have been better for creating really, really accurate representations of the originals. Which are pretty close to my heart - it's no secret. So to say that the prints are beyond beautiful - give me a deep sense of pride.

After January 1st - I'm raising the gallery print prices to $100. I'll try to get all the sizes posted this week and note that we won't be shipping again until the New Year (but you can order then now for the $85 price which includes shipping). Sweet deal.

Today: SO MUCH. TOO MUCH. Including a lot of coffee, Dora and prairie landscapes. Will post again tomorrow.

GO!

I Found Wings Collection

I'm ready to talk about the I FOUND WINGS collection and show. Looking with a new set of eyes - it was a successful show and a beautiful series of paintings. It was a pretty cool location. It's hard to get the same impression online but if you will bear with me and imagine that you are in a Harry-Potter-esque lounge with high ceilings and dark wood. Leather arm chairs and rich, deep red walls. The room is full of darkness except for the spotlights shining on bird paintings. Jazz playing in the background. Live owls at the door to greet you. A delicious glass of Yali wine in your hand and and a mind + heart open to experiencing a few new pieces of art. That was the I FOUND WINGS art event... 

These two incredible LIVE owls were there to enchant people. And when I say enchant - that is exactly what I mean. No one walked away disappointed with these beauties. The birds were from the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and they were magnificent. Huge thank you to Lisa and her volunteers for bringing them out and being a part of my show. There are two small prints available with a portion of the proceeds going to PWRC. Help me support them. And if your heart is feeling big and wide - please leave them a donation on their website, too. They do amazing work. Seriously. The owls (top photo: Great Grey Owl yet to be named. Bottom photo: Great Horned Owl named Tao.) were three hundred thousand times more amazing than they look through my crappy photos. My Great Grey painting can be found here. My Great Horned painting can be found here.

From start to finished we had just over 400 visitors. I am touched and very, very grateful to everyone who made it out that night. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

THE COLLECTION CAN NOW BE VIEWED HERE. (I'm trying something new in terms of display.) Please believe me when I say they are nicer in person and when viewed at the actual size. The originals are for sale. As well as gallery prints. (Any questions - please email dan@kalbarteski.com)

That's about it. Special Thanks to Tammy (+ Jared) for making everything setup and display so nicely. To Dan for making the details work out. To Randy for donating terrifically awesome Yali wine (and hammering out the details when I couldn't). Thanks to Joelle + Tamara + Amanda for handling the print desk. Thanks to Teri-Lynn for being a great nanny and to Bonnie + Tim for being the most supportive and amazing neighbours in the world. Thanks Cadence for the hook up with PWRC. Thanks Heidi from Botanical Paperworks for the lights. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. Just thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks.

Thanks for the great show. Let's do that again soon.

Mid-flight.

My girl tribe and I just relaxed yesterday. We didn't even go out for Starbucks. We stayed in and watched the pretty snowflakes on the outside and danced our hearts out to the Nutcracker. I will admit to being a little tired. And very much conflicted about how I feel about the art show - which is probably just the chemical reaction to being done. I tried some new things for this event. Some worked. Some totally bombed. I took some new risks. Some successful and some totally disappointing. I didn't get to talk to everyone and that makes me feel bad. I crushed my goal of 20 new paintings LIKE I FULLY INTENDED TO DO. I got myself WAY TOO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED in the paintings which is not helpful because it means I've been taking everything a little too personally today. And I know better. Oh, don't get me wrong - the show was a great event. I can throw a party. I feel like I brought my 'A' game and I feel like that's sort of giving the finger to the people who didn't really think I could pull it off. Enough said. THERE WERE LIVE OWLS. I am overwhelmed and touched by all of the people that made it out to see what I've been working on. I have been shown a level of kindness and generosity that I'm sure I do not deserve. THANK YOU. THANK YOU in a way that I'll never really be able to thank you. A lot of people that I didn't expect to make it - MADE IT. And lots of people that I spoke to about attending didn't come and that goes into the 'taking it too personally' folder. But, whatever. I reserve the right, as one of those artsy-fartsy types to feel those kind of things. Overall - it was awesome. Everything came together. It was a lot of fun. It was rewarding + exhausting like I imagine it might feel to run a 2 month marathon. It's also blurry. I can prove that because I have only a few shakey photos to show for it (IF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOS - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send me some so I can show my Mom and Dad). I also have 26 paintings to photograph and get online so that I can share these things with the rest of the world.

Dan asked me after the show if I purposely left him out of my thank-you speech. (Oh, I am so sorry, Dan.)

Today: I have running around to do and 26 paintings to get online so that I can go to my awesome chiropractor at 3:45 to get these sore hips adjusted. It's my goal to get the paintings all online today, but that's gonna depend on a few factors that I can't control. They will be up this weekend FOR SURE. It's THEN and only then - that I celebrate.

Everything all good. GO!

T minus 2.

Good morning. I'm still chugging away. Still painting. Still figuring. Still dreaming. Still thinking. Still got about three thousand things to do and then some. Including a couple paintings. Still need to do a lot of writing. And designing. Still not in tears. Still not sure how everything will get accomplished. But, I'm still working on it. I have helpers in these birds. The above images is my current favourite piece. It's a little American Kestrel. Which I learned are one of the most common falcons in North America. Cool little fact. I love the colouring. I love that these little birds get their chicks to throw poop on the walls of their nests so they don't have to sleep in it - that's kind of clever if you ask me (please don't tell my kids). I love that the painting turned out in a combination of styles with lines and newspapers and drips and pretty strokes. And I love that I can finally love that kind of thing. 

That's pretty much about what this art show is about - loving where I started and where I went and where I am. All together. Helping each other out.

Please say you're coming to my art show. My iPod is charged and on and my day is planned to the minute.

Today: Too much to list because tomorrow is unavailable for working. 

GO!

Not so good + Great.

Slowly, slowly. Here's a peek at what I wrestled with yesterday. There's a awful lot of work left on this little guy and I am getting where I'm going very, very slowly. It's kind of frustrating. That's the NOT SO GOOD part. I started fast and then I just kind of got stuck in this spotted feather loop that kept going and going and going. And going. And I kept getting lost. I really want to finish this one. He's a Great Horned Owl and I did a little research last night and found out that the average Great Horned Owl has a wing span just under 5 feet and weighs about 3 pounds. I am 5 and a half feet tall and if I weighed 3 pounds I betcha I could fly, too. So there.

ANSWERING QUESTIONS:
What type of lights do I use? Anything that throws light.
Do my canvasses ever get stuck to the easel. Yes, but I just rip them off.
Am I doing a sandpiper? Done.
Would I like a vanilla latte? Yes, please.

Today: making lists and making cookies. It's not a painting day and as the clock ticks it's sort of hurting me not to be painting, but that's too bad I guess. I am searching for a sitter for Thursday to buy my self 6 or 7 more hours. I am crafting up some fun stuff with the ladies and crossing my fingers for long naps because I have a LOT OF SHOW STUFF TO DO and I am starting to panic refuse to get worked up. Where is BabaLuba (my mom) when I need her????

ART SHOW UPDATE: 8 days. Please help me get the word out. I'm doing a terrible job and I need help. (Thanks!)

GO!

Landing.

Still painting away. It's a beautiful weekend. It's an unprecedented weekend of beauty for the end of November around here. Yup. The END of November. That means my pre-show paintings days are numbered. Seriously numbered. As in 4 just-me-painting days left. That's making me sad and making me happy. Having a big basket of deadlines and expectations makes me push through and make myself and what I love to do - further up the list than at the bottom. Which I wholeheartedly know to be an important and key element, FOR ME, in sustaining life. It also means that if I'm not at the bottom - someone else has to be. Which isn't as cool as it used to be.

More peeking.

I promised a peek into the progress (it feels a bit like I'm standing here naked). The bottom photo isn't actually the final shot and the paint is still wet on the right side of the canvas.... but you get the idea. This painting is at the point where I sign it and sit on it for a day or so so I can make a list of the things that I want to adjust. While I was making a list of adjustments I also figured out the perfect set of phrases that I will tuck discreetly in between feathers. I'll do that tomorrow. I also wanted to note that I had the size wrong... it's 40 x 30 inches. I also wanted to note that for the bird show - I planned to work on smaller canvasses because it's harder to find homes for giant pieces... but, the pieces just keep getting bigger and bigger.

I Found Wings: please join me.

Definitely consider this your official invitation to my upcoming art show on December 2, 2009 at THE DISTRICT in Winnipeg (click to enlarge). (The invitations are on their way to print this afternoon!) Thanks for the compliments on the pelican painting. I like it, too. This one has been sitting in my brain for a while now so it feels awfully good to see it come to life. If you like that one - you will love the grey owl. Really. I will promise to post the pelican progress if you promise to do everything in your power to make it to the show. I'm serious. I don't have a clue how it will unfold. I have a lot of work to do and that's how I like it. I'll try to have an internet display around the same time so if you live in the Netherlands (for example, hi Revlie!) then you will still get a look. The information page goes up this week with more details.

Today: is Tuesday and that's not a painting day so my girl tribe and I are going to Nicole's to eat pancakes and catch up on the lives of our friends. And probably suck on toys or something. And get groceries. Which sounds good to me because I'm tired of eating crackers without cheese. Word.

GO!